Kadewere impresses Nees despite Burkina Faso defeat

Langton Nyakwenda

Zimpapers Sports Hub

IN the midst of the damper that any defeat brings to a team’s record, returning striker Tinotenda Kadewere provided the silver lining that caught the eye of coach Michael Nees, who was left purring about his fine showing.

Kadewere’s Warriors career has been blighted by injuries, which resulted in the France-based forward making rare appearances in national colours.

On Friday night, Kadewere played his first game under Nees and despite the Warriors losing 2-0 to Burkina Faso in the first of two internationals matches the senior team will play on their Moroccan tour, the German gaffer was more than happy with what he saw in the Nantes forward.

Nees handed opportunities to four players who were earning Warriors caps for the first time and these were Belgian-based Bill Antonio, Highlanders’ Mason Mushore, Tawanda Macheke of TelOne and Sean Fusire, who plies his trade with Sheffield Wednesday in England.

The pair of Fusire and Macheke came on as second half substitutes, while Antonio and Mushore started the encounter.

But in a team, which appears a little thin on central strikers, with Polokwane City’s Douglas Mapfumo inactive for a lengthy period, Nees was always going to cast special attention on Kadewere.

The former Harare City man could provide the Warriors coach the options he needs from a squad laden with wide players.

And Nees liked what he saw in Kawedere on the night in Morocco and will probably be expecting more of the same when the Warriors meet Niger in their next assignment in the same country on Tuesday night.

“Tino (Kadewere) played very strong,” he said. “I didn’t expect him to last 90 minutes, honestly, my plan was to play him for about 60 minutes.’’

The coach reckoned that had the Stallions not been allowed to heckle Khama Billiat, forcing him to take the Scottland talisman off, his combination with Kadewere could have conjured a goal or two for Zimbabwe.

“When the opponents took Khama (Billiat) out, he was fouled six or seven times and we had to take him off,” he said. “He (Kadewere) showed what quality he has, when he is in top shape.”

The Warriors coach was not impressed by the slow start, which resulted in his side conceding two early goals.

“Our attitude at the beginning of matches has to change… passing mistakes, mistakes in decision making, we have to correct that,’’ he said.

Although his focus was mainly on assessing new players for possible addition to his Africa Cup of Nations squad that he is building, Nees conceded that a winning culture was needed in the game.

He was happy with the Warriors second half performance though.

“Performance in the second half, I am really satisfied. Result, of course not. As a coach you really don’t want to lose,’’ said Nees.

Nees expects an improvement in the concentration levels when they face Niger. He also acknowledged the physical presence of the Stallions in Friday’s match.

“(Burkina Faso) good strong opponents, West Africans are physically very strong,” he said. “They also started quite strong.

“But our team has never played like that before, we wanted to give players a first cap, today (Friday) it was four players who earned the first cap under me, there were some players I never saw before.

“The other players who earned a first cap, we wanted to look at them and they did well.”

Nees believes Billiat would have scored had he lasted the whole game.

The Scottland star player was a target of Burkina Faso defenders and Nees had to protect him by pulling him out.

“Burkina Faso were 90 percent of their best team, but we wanted to increase the pool for competition,” he said. “We wanted to look at the new players.

“We must look at the bigger picture, we wanted to give new players a chance, against a strong opponent.”

Warriors’ rookies bow out of COSAFA Cup

While the regular Warriors are polishing up in Morocco, the senior team’s rookies and fringe players crashed out of the COSAFA Cup after falling 2-0 to hosts South Africa in their second Group A game at the Toyota Stadium in Bloemfontein yesterday.

Bafana Bafana, who are chasing their sixth title scored a first half penalty through Kabelo Dhlamini before Ime Okoni sealed the deal with a powerful header off a free-kick in the 78th minute.

Zimbabwe remained on one point and will still not top Group A even if they beat Mozambique on Tuesday.

A victory for Zimbabwe will take them to four points, but a victory or draw for South Africa in their final group game against Mauritius will nullify the Warriors’ chances of progressing to the semi-final.

Yesterday’s game was a win or bust assignment for either side, with South Africa having suffered a 1-0 reverse against Mozambique in their opener.

Zimbabwe coach Simon Marange promised to continue competing despite crashing out.

“We will play the last game like we did this one, we will compete,” said Marange, whose side failed to register a shot on target.

They are also without a goal in the tourney. On the other hand, Bafana Bafana moved to three points and very much on course to progress to the last four. Warriors’ keeper Martin Mapisa was brilliant all afternoon, making four crucial saves that kept the score line respectable.

Zimbabwe were chasing a seventh COSAFA championship, to match record holders Zambia who won the title in 1997, 1998, 2006, 2013, 2019, 2022 and 2023.

The Warriors were winners in 2000, 2003, 2005, 2009, 2017 and 2018, while Angola with three titles are the defending champions.